Meet the Artist Who’s Brightening Up the Windows of Downtown Winslow Businesses – Just in time for the Holidays!

She does windows, lots of windows. Molly Brahmer is a Bainbridge born artist who has a passion for murals, portraits and painting windows at retail shops, restaurants, and businesses around the island. If you look close enough, you might spot one of her many designs and paintings on the windows of Downtown Winslow stores such as Furnish Bainbridge, Millstream, ZBones and many others.

And, if you’re lucky, you might even see her in person on a ladder, with her paints and brushes sprawled out beneath her, practicing her craft, one stroke at a time, donning paint splattered pants, a Hoodie with her Molly Brahmer Art mollybrahmerart.com logo on the front, and a pair of funky-looking black-rim glasses that she says helps her capture details and record her work.

Indeed, the way she creates scenes of the Christmas season using characters like Charlie Brown and his buddies from Peanuts, the Grinch, Reindeers flying over the moon, Gingerbread Houses and Snowflakes falling from above, is truly magical and wonderful scenes to take in while you’re shopping or out for a stroll. If you didn’t know any better, you might think Molly is on loan from the North Pole, as one of Santa’s Helpers, or perhaps a stray Elf on sabbatical, who just happened upon Bainbridge Island one day.

So what gets her excited about painting windows, especially during the Holiday Season? “Christmas is my favorite holiday,” says the 37-year-old Bainbridge High School grad. “I love the magic, the cheer and the snow (even though we don’t get much of it).” She and her husband, Mike, “go all out decorating for Christmas (for example, one year I painted our front door to look like a candy cane), so I really love being able to bring more of the Christmas Cheer to our town! Many of my windows evoke nostalgia and some have even become a part of local traditions. While I was painting the other day, a woman told me that for the past three years her grandchildren have taken photos in front of the windows I paint at Furnish (Bainbridge).  … I know this time of year can be hard for some, and our dreary weather doesn’t help, so I hope that my bright (and) fun paintings will help get (people) in the spirit of the season.”

You may or may not be aware of some of Brahmer’s other island artwork. Take a saunter down the south side of Winslow Way, heading towards Eagle Harbor Books, and you’ll spot a very whimsical piece of hers on the wall leading down the steps to the Rabbit Hole https://www.bainbridgeisland.com/business/the-rabbit-hole/, a self-proclaimed funky gift store that once housed the island’s only shoe repair shop. It’s a very colorful piece that is iconic Pacific Northwest, with a sunset looming over Mount Rainier, the Seattle skyline resting on the lower right side, beautiful flowers, and, of course, a rabbit in the foreground.

Brahmer, whose maiden name is Dwyer, and, under full disclosure, is my daughter, has done other art murals on Bainbridge Island, including a six-foot-tall map that is hanging in the Chamber of Commerce office, and includes a Kraken on an adjacent window; at Bainbridge Tapas and on the walls of Nirvana, the Indian Cuisine restaurant in The Pavilion. She’s also completed a number of paintings and murals around the region, as well, including in the showroom of a car dealership in Renton, on the chimney of a private residence in Bellevue, and a movie theater in Port Orchard, among others.

Her signature work to date is the Postcard Mural that hangs on the outside wall of The Cove shopping mall in Downtown Winslow. Brahmer’s mural is painted on four 4 x 8 aluminum panels depicting many notable symbols of Bainbridge: Frog Rock, the Japanese Memorial, Blakely Harbor, Pickleball, the Ferries, Mount Rainier, a Blue Heron, and others. The mural, financed by local and state grants, has become a stopping ground for tourists and locals wanting to capture a memory of the island.

If you’ve traveled in the United States, you’ve probably seen Postcard Murals attached to a prominent building or signpost at the entrance to a city or town, or in a city center. “They typically say, ‘Greetings from Austin, or Bend or Seattle,’” Brahmer says. “(Most) every city has one and people always take pictures in front of them.”

Besides doing murals and windows, Brahmer also draws pet portraits. Simply put, she pencil draws portraits of people’s pets – dogs, cats, horses, chickens, you name it – and will also do drawings of children and adults if asked to do so.

Like a lot of fledgling businesses, Molly Brahmer Art (which can be found on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok) got its start serendipitously. “One of my friend’s dogs died,” recalls Brahmer.  “She was super sad so I thought I’d draw a portrait of her dog so she could remember it. So I did.” That was sometime in the fall of 2019. Her friend liked the portrait of her former pet so much that she posted it on her own Facebook and Instagram pages, and not long after, other people who saw it, “reached out and said, ‘I like what you did, could you do that for me?’” Brahmer remembers.

So far this season, Brahmer has painted windows in 12 different businesses with more to come, and over the past three years she’s painted various scenes in the windows of other local businesses, such as Sisters Cider House, Sweet Deal, Dana’s Showhouse, Magnolia’s and others. Her process is pretty straight forward. “Most of my clients have an idea of what they want but leave the designing up to me. I do have a few clients that give me full creative freedom, which is really fun,” Brahmer notes, “although sometimes that can be more of a challenge when I have too many ideas to choose from!”

It takes Brahmer approximately three-plus hours to paint a typical window, with variables such as the number of paint colors, size and temperature coming into play.  “Because our weather is so wet this time of year, it takes twice as long to dry compared with the spring or summer months,” she says. “While the design and number of colors make a difference, the determining factor during the fall/winter is actually the humidity level and amount of sun.”

Does she have any favorite windows?  “I must say, I love all that I have done but my favorites are usually the ones where I can show off my style – like the Santa bows at Firefly, the snowy trees at Zbones and Bainbridge Aesthetics or the Garland at Bainbridge Tea & Apothecary. That being said as long as they’re making people happy, I am happy!”

Interestingly, Brahmer’s favorite past time leading up to Christmas Day has nothing to do with painting. The Flight Attendant for a major airline (when she’s not painting or drawing) enjoys doing something completely different.

“Every year I put down my paintbrushes and volunteer as a real-life elf for the Spokane Fantasy Flight that takes 60 underprivileged children to visit Santa,” she says. “Northwest North Pole Adventures is the nonprofit that organizes this magical Christmas experience. Each child is nominated and assigned an elf to escort them to the North Pole where they meet Santa, play games, sing carols, open gifts and make life changing memories. This event truly embodies the spirit of Christmas.” And so do you, Molly Brahmer!  

Photos By Anna Carson and Kevin Dwyer. Here’s a link to Molly’s Island Mural Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/bBLGnpZk4GsT66sd6.

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